Whether increase distance, feel or trajectory while maintaining or even improving your accuracy is your goal for next year, True Temper has two new lightweight offerings to choose from, which will be available at the beginning of February 2014

True Temper will soon be introducing two new ultra-light taper tip steel iron shaft to deliver a combination of explosive distance with precision control. OK, I know, you hear this all the time where manufacturers make this same claim and that it is all relative to how well the shaft fits your swing profile. I had a chance this past week to both test the shafts as well as hit them at the range against some other lightweight shafts and I came away impressed.

The True Temper XP95 and True Temper XP105 (numbers indicate approximate raw shaft weight) offer two distinct models with a unique step pattern. These are both taper tip options so they are primarily for re-shafting name brand clubs unless want to shim them in our irons or in other parallel irons on the market.

Aside from their weight differences (approximately 6g once assembled), there are other distinguishing features between the two golf shafts. The True Temper XP95 is the higher launching of the two shafts. This is due to a softer tip section and slightly softer flex. A little more than a month ago I discussed how steel shaft geometry affects the stiffness distribution of the shaft and consequently trajectory. The XP95 has the more active tip section as the shaft measures 0.370” below the first step while the True Temper XP95 is 0.395”. While the weight is not much of huge difference in shaft selection, optimizing ball flight should be your first choice between these shafts. I hit the ball so bloody high to begin with so the True Temper XP105 was the better choice for me.

Our new shaft profiler measures the deflection or stiffness along the length of the shaft so you get more of a complete picture of how the shaft flexes. The following chart shows the deflection of the two shafts with the left side showing the tip end and the right side is the butt. More flex is indicated when the line is higher on the chart. If you have a hard time reading the legend, the True Temper XP95 is in blue and True Temper XP105 in red. As mentioned previously, the XP105 is slighter firmer in the butt section, but the biggest difference coming from the tip end.

I have been using shafts in this weight range for the past several years so these were in my wheelhouse. These shafts have plenty of feel. After fitted for the right flex and weight for me, I was hitting the ball longer than what I had been gaming and loved how straight the ball went for me.

What would have been most similar from their previous models?

Our deflection analysis shows for the True Temper XP95 (in blue), the closest shafts that True Temper has offered are the GS-85 (green) and GS-95 (red) and the reason both are being retired after this year to make room for this model. The XP95 fits right in-between in terms of weight and flex.

The True Temper XP105 golf shafts in the S300 (blue) was very similar to the profile of the popular Dynalite Gold XP (red) in the R300 flex. This is the reason why the Dynalite Gold XP will be retired after this year too. The XP105 sheds roughly 7 grams from the Dynalite Gold XP for increased swing speed without sacrificing what made it such a success.

More fitting information
Here is the DSFI data that we produce for our annual Shaft Fitting Addendum so you can compare them to other shafts we have tested.

With taper tip shafts, there is no tip trimming required. However, this requires the clubmaker to purchase or stock a specific raw length for each head. Here are those recommended raw lengths:

Even though you do not see many 2-irons today, these can be used for driving / utility irons or giving club fitters the option of soft-stepping to create some in-between flexes.

The Skinny
As you can see, those wily engineers at True Temper Golf Shafts have been busy this past year concentrating on enhancing your performance. Whether increase distance, feel or trajectory while maintaining or even improving your accuracy is your goal for next year, True Temper has two new lightweight offerings to choose from, which will be available at the beginning of February 2014 (Hey, that’s not that far away).